Khupe faction postpones extraordinary congress

Thupeyo Muleya,Beitbridge BureauThe MDC-T faction led by Dr Thokozani Khupe says it has been forced by security considerations to postpone its extraordinary congress which had been planned for April 7 in Bulawayo.

Dr Khupe’s spokesman, Mr Witness Dube, said the event would now be held in the same city two weeks later on April 21.

He said they had rescheduled the etraordinary congress after realising that their nemesis, the MDC-Alliance, would also be holding a rally at White City Stadium in Bulawayo on the same day, hence the need to avoid a security crisis.

“All delegates, stakeholders and invited guests of the MDC-T extraordinary congress, which had been scheduled for Saturday, April 7, 2018 in Bulawayo are hereby notified that this event has been postponed to Saturday, April 21, 2018,” said Mr Dube.

“This has been necessitated by the coming of the MDC-Alliance rally in the city on the same date, whose premise naturally presents a security threat to the smooth running of our programmes given the violence that took place in the very recent past,” he said.

Mr Dube said two outstanding provincial congresses would go ahead as planned.

This, he said, would help receive confirmation of their extraordinary credentials before travelling to Bulawayo on 20 April.

“To ensure the security of our members, we are not going to disclose the two provinces at the moment. However, the credentials for all the people will be declared during the extraordinary congress to enhance transparency.

“We have had situations where our people have been attacked by people from the MDC-Alliance while going through our programmes and we want to avoid such scenarios,” said Mr Dube.

Since the death of the MDC-T leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai on February 14, two factions led by Dr Khupe and Advocate Nelson Chamisa have been involved in a fierce battle to control the opposition party.

Dr Khupe and her followers have been victims of violence unleashed by a suspected militia known as the “Vanguard” claimed to be aligned to Advocate Chamisa.